Scope and content: This collection contains one diary kept by Lucia Darling during her trip to Bannack (June l-September 17, 1863; typescript copies are also in the collection); an eight-page typescript reminiscence by Lucia Darling Park entitled "The First School in Montana"; a claim certificate from Beaverhead County (1864); three letters from Lucia Darling Park (1904) to Mrs. Howey concerning the diary; reports (1878-1885) she wrote as lady principal of Berea College; and a mining claim in Bannack Mining District. [The diary has been microfilmed (Microfilm 124a.] (Small Collection 145).; Lucia Aurora Darling was born October 9, 1839, near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her mother, Pauline Edgerton Darling, was the sister of Sidney Edgerton, of Talmadge, Ohio. In 1839 Lucia went to live with her uncle's family. At the age of 14 she began teaching school in Akron, Ohio. In 1863 Lucia travelled west with the family of her uncle, Sidney Edgerton, who had been appointed chief justice of Idaho Territory. They wintered in Bannack, in what later became Montana Territory. Lucia Darling opened a school in the family home and was one of the territory's first school teachers. After returning east, Lucia taught school for the Freedmen's Bureau in Selma, Alabama; studied at Oberlin College; and served as lady principal of Berea College in Kentucky. She held that position for 9 years. In 1885 she married Servetus W. Park and moved to her husband's hometown of Warren, Ohio. There she became active in Presbyterian missionary work, the Ladies Aid Society, and helped found a cooperative marketing exchange for women. Lucia Darling Park died August 18, 1905 in Warren.

Lucia Darling was the niece of Montana's first Territorial Governor, Sidney Edgerton, and one of the territory's first school teachers. This collection consists of a diary (June 1-September 1863) covering her overland trip to Montana with Edgerton's family. Also included are a reminiscence entitled "The First School in Montana" (Bannack); reports (1878-1885) she wrote as lady principal of Berea College; and a mining claim in the Bannack Mining District. [Diary same as MF 124a. Remininscence published in Vol. 5, Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana. Partial typescripts included.].